Dartmoor Tors Festival: Love, Loss And Landscape: The Wild And The Ancient

Name: Dartmoor Tors Festival: Love, Loss And Landscape: The Wild And The Ancient
Start: 2026-05-02T14:00:00+01:00
Location: Ashburton Arts Centre

Schedule

Sat, 02 May, 2026 at 02:00 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

Ashburton Arts Centre | Newton Abbot, EN

Join writers Fiona Robertson, Sophie Pierce and Kirsteen McNish for a conversation about the human relationship with landscape.
What role does place play in our emotional lives? Join writers Fiona Robertson, Sophie Pierce and Kirsteen McNish for a conversation about the human relationship with landscape. In the turmoil of our feelings, from love, to grief and everything in between, why do we feel drawn to the wild and the ancient? Whether it be exploring Britain’s prehistoric sites, swimming in wild waters or walking remote moors, how do places transform us?
Fiona Robertson is a writer, editor and megalith enthusiast. Her book Stone Lands uncovers the magic and rich history of Britain’s prehistoric stones, but is also a personal story about the death of her husband and the resonance and emotional power of the sites built by our ancestors.
Sophie Pierce is a writer and broadcaster; her memoir The Green Hill, about the sudden and unexpected death of her son, explores the role the Devon landscape played, and still plays, in her grief.
Kirsteen McNish is a writer, events curator and broadcaster who has a regular column for Caught By The River. She is interested in lesser heard voices, care and how this interpolates with place. She was writer in residence for Exeter Quay Words in 2025 and contributed to the Dartmoor Collective's publication Flow. She was long listed for the Nan Shepherd Prize in 2023
Tickets £12 full price, £10 or £7 if you prefer. Please pay what you can, or pay less and come to more things! Book at wegottickets.com/ashburtonarts (+10% fee) or email [email protected] to reserve and pay on the door.
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Dartmoor Tors Festival 30 April – 4 May 2026
This is part of the second Dartmoor Tors Festival, happening at various places around Dartmoor. Tickets for festival events at Ashburton Arts Centre are all available at wegottickets.com/dartmoortorsfestival2026. All of the festival goings on are listed at dartmoortorsfestival.co.uk.
The daytime events at the Arts Centre generally last for an hour, with doors opening 15 minutes before the advertised start time.
The festival celebrates the culture of Dartmoor and explores our emotional connection with wild, ancient places. Artists, musicians, writers, archaeologists, campaigners and historians will be sharing their perspectives in a range of events including talks, walks, workshops, concerts and performances.
We kick off with the mesmerising Cole Stacey playing live at Ashburton Arts Centre on Thursday 30 April. On Friday night, 1 May, the thrilling dark folk band, Craven, will be playing, and on Saturday 2 May we have the Mercury Prize-nominated Gwenno. Throughout the weekend, from Friday 1 May through to Sunday 3rd there will be talks and conversations at the main venue, Ashburton Arts Centre, and at the Field System Gallery next door, covering everything from natural witchcraft, nature recovery, mythology and poetry to the visual arts. There will also be walks all over Dartmoor, taking in everything from archaeology to ancient legends, and birdsong to storytelling. There will be free events, including Morris dancing on the Saturday afternoon outside Ashburton Arts Centre and an exhibition at Field System Gallery. On Sunday afternoon, 3 May, the festival will culminate with a new community event, Gudula’s Gathering, incorporating a procession and a well-dressing, in which everyone is invited to take part.
For capacity reasons, all events are ticketed individually. Everything at Ashburton Arts Centre has three prices to suit different pockets – please pay what you can. Choose the lower-priced tickets if you want to attend lots of events. Everything happening at Ashburton Arts Centre can be booked via the links on this page; events elsewhere can be booked via the main festival website: dartmoortorsfestival.co.uk
See ashburtonarts.org.uk/access-booking-tickets-parking-finding-us for more about why there are three ticket prices, plus other useful info about coming to events at Ashburton Arts Centre. Level access from street – please contact us on [email protected] if a wheelchair space is needed, or if you have any other special requirements.